Match Report : 30/01/2013

30 January 2013

As Palace head into transfer deadline day hoping to secure some new signings, it was a former Eagle that condemned them to defeat at the John Smith's Stadium as James Vaughan grabbed the only goal of the game as Huddersfield ran out 1-0 winners.

In a game lacking in quality throughout, Vaughan's strike on 66 minutes proved to be the deciding factor and ensured Ian Holloway's side's struggles on the road continue with no wins from their last eight trips away from Selhurst Park.

The first opportunity of the game fell Palace's way to Yannick Bolasie nine minutes in but his shot from long range was pushed away by Alex Smithies in the Terriers' goal, which was to be the only highlight of a scrappy opening 25 minutes as both sides battled for possession on a bumpy surface.

Despite enjoying the majority of the ball in the opening exchanges it took until the 28th minute for the home side to test Julian Speroni, and it came from a familiar foe when Neil Danns was played in by Adam Clayton but he shot straight at his former Eagles team-mate.

The midfielder then tried his luck with a bouncing effort from just inside the area moments later which was easily dealt with by the Palace custodian, and at the other end Andre Moritz couldn't quite produce a bit of Brazilian magic as Smithies comfortably dealt with his free-kick from 30 yards out.

Scott Arfield fizzed a low drive narrowly wide in stoppage time as the first 45 ended goalless with both sides battling hard to gain the crucial breakthrough on a night filled with graft rather than craft.

Palace began the second half much more brightly and Jacob Butterfield went close with a fierce blast from 25 yards which was inches away from creeping under Smithies' crossbar just before the hour mark.

However a rare foray forward for the Terriers led to them snatching the lead on 66 minutes when Clayton's through ball split the Palace defence and found James Vaughan, and the striker held off Damien Delaney to find himself one-on-one with Speroni and coolly prodded the ball between the keeper's legs to make it 1-0.

The Eagles pressed for an equaliser and Bolasie fired a vicious free-kick just off target from fully 35 yards before Holloway went for broke by throwing on Jermaine Easter and Aaron Wilbraham for Jonathan Parr and debutant Jazz Richards with a quarter of an hour to play.

The two substitutes combined well to carve out an opportunity for the former Norwich striker but Wilbraham saw his first-time shot from just outside the area thwarted by Smithies but it was to be the only attempt Palace could muster in the final stages.

Huddersfield nearly doubled their lead in injury time when Clayton clipped the crossbar from a neat effort from the edge of the box but his side had done enough to secure the victory as the Eagles missed out on a chance to return to the Championship's automatic promotion places.